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On Friday April 18th, at the Great Hall of the People, the Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Prime Minister of New Zealand Rt. Hon. John Key witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (M.O.U.) for the continuing operation of the New Zealand Centre at Peking University between Peking University and eight New Zealand Universities.
The Chinese Premier and The New Zealand Prime Minister witness the signing of MOU.
The signing ceremony was one of the most important activities on John Key’s visit to China. After their meeting, Premier Li Keqiang and Prime Minister John Key witnessed the signing of a series of cooperation agreements between China and New Zealand in the fields such as agriculture, scientific research, quality inspection, finance and education. The New Zealand Centre M.O.U. is the only agreement signed in the field of education. This agreement highlights the importance of the New Zealand Centre at Peking University to New Zealand and to the University itself. It also helps start a new development stage of the Centre with the support of Peking University and the University of Auckland, the University of Otago, Victoria University of Wellington, the University of Canterbury, Massey University, Auckland University of Technology, the University of Waikato, and Lincoln University. Furthermore, the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, Education New Zealand joined the New Zealand Centre’s Advisory Board.
Victoria University Vice-Chancellor Professor Grant Guilford, Peking University President Lin Jianhua, University of Auckland Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Strategic Engagement) Professor Jenny Dixon, and the New Zealand Centre Director Professor Liu Shusen prior to the signing.
Peking University President Lin Jianhua, Victoria University of Wellington Vice-Chancellor Professor Grant Guilford, and University of Auckland Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Strategic Engagement) Professor Jenny Dixon signed the MOU at The Great Hall of the People. The MOU will eventually be signed by all eight of the New Zealand Centre partners. The MOU represents the reorganization of the development of the New Zealand Centre since its start in 2007 and the importance of cooperation between both the Centre and NZ universities, promotes the study of New Zealand in China and contributes to strengthening the deep relationship between China and New Zealand. The Centre will continue its efforts in advancing bilateral exchanges and cooperation in education, cultural exchange, economic transformation, academic cooperation and innovation among different sectors such as government, academia and business. Making use of the resources available at Peking University, the New Zealand Centre will make an effort to facilitate the teaching and research on New Zealand studies, faculty exchanges, the construction of think tanks and policy consultation so as to contribute its bit to the national development and to the grand task of building Peking University into a world-class university. |
